So, what actions can an organization take to create a positive work environment? Compliance experts suggest the following:
1. Review and Update Your Policies
The first answer may be found in Uber’s response to its own workplace culture problem. In February of 2017, Uber hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to lead an investigation into their organizational culture. His 13-page report recommended 47 steps the company should take (all of which were adopted by Uber’s board). Many of Holder’s recommendations could—and should—be adopted by any organization interested in improving its workplace culture, including:
Clarifying requirements for promotion
Changing the pay review process to reduce bias
Establishing protocols to escalate complaints
Including metrics for employee satisfaction in manager performance reviews
Using a software solution to keep track of complaints
At first glance, these points appear to be more about policy and procedure management than creating workplace culture or building employee engagement. But that is because the best way to build a positive work environment is by crafting policies and procedures which make management more structured, disciplined and — importantly — depersonalized. “Effective policy management is, in a way, about depersonalizing a company’s culture,” writes compliance author Matt Kelly. “Not in the sense of making your culture sterile and boring, but rather to build the company around a set of core values that aren’t dependent on, or dictated by, any single person.” These values should be clearly articulated in a code of conduct and then executed through policies and procedures that make them manifest in employees’ lived, everyday experience.
Of course, specific policies deserve special attention. You should take care to bolster your policy against harassment and retaliation, and have a process in place to investigate complaints promptly, fairly and thoroughly. It’s also important to hold employees accountable for violating the rules and to be prepared to terminate if necessary.
2. Train and Coach Your Employees
When it comes to how a company’s values are felt by employees in their daily lives, organizations focus on two specific dimensions: the way things are done (workplace culture) and how people feel about it (employee engagement). Policies and procedures can largely deal with improving the former; employee engagement, on the other hand, can be effectively addressed through training and coaching. Holder dedicated an entire section of his Uber report to the subject of training, recommending it not only for senior leadership but for human resources, interviewers and mid-level managers as well.
Manager training should of course include segments on diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias, as well as how to recognize issues early and report them appropriately. But it should also give special attention to areas of effective leadership and employee empowerment, such as how to provide constructive feedback and help employees set career goals. Teaching managers how to coach and mentor their team members is foundational to building trust and increasing commitment to organizational success, explains employee engagement expert David MacLeod. “Successful managers are coaching their people – usually at least once a week,” MacLeod says. “Engaged workers feel that their manager treats them, not as a mere ‘human resource,’ but as a human being. That relationship encourages workers to bring more of themselves to work.”
3. Act, Listen and Be Authentic.
There is nothing inherently wrong with things like perks, nor is there anything bad about high-level concepts and discussions about organizational values and goals. Just the opposite; such things are often crucial components of a positive work environment, as is setting the often-touted “tone at the top.” But it is critical that all statements made by managers, executives and senior leadership be accompanied by action. Backing your words with deeds — especially ones that come at a cost — sets your relationship with your workforce. Saying “I appreciate you” but failing to demonstrate it is detrimental to any relationship, including the one between an employer and their employees.
Successful employee engagement and culture-setting relies on listening as well as acting. Good listening can help you better address your employees’ needs, and identify problems before they metastasize. “The thing that organizations that engage their staff do well is that they listen — and allow their people to talk across silos,” says engagement expert Nita Clarke. “If you’ve got a good ‘listening organization’ where your workers trust you, they’ll tell you when something’s about to go wrong. That’s a cheaper way of protecting your organization’s reputation than lawyers or PR companies getting to work after an event.”
Above all, executives, managers and even employees must engage with authenticity. The development of a positive workplace environment ultimately hinges on trust—of one’s leaders, co-workers, and organization. Through the use of smart policy management, well-designed training, demonstrable action, and active listening, companies can successfully shift their focus from mitigating risk to impacting culture.